by Dana Mentink
On Monday morning, she made her bed, brushing off the dog hair that accumulated when Scrappy rushed to comfort her in the middle of the night. They had declined maid service, which was just fine with Penny since it gave her something to do. She was desperate to get to the office. She’d carefully pulled her hair into a loose ponytail and dotted a bit of makeup over the worst of her facial bruises, as well as a swish of light pink lipstick.
“At least it’s convenient for us to get to work from here,” she told Vivienne when she emerged.
Vivienne shoved her short black hair behind her ears. “Absolutely, and we have a great view of the street, easy to keep an eye on things.”
Vivienne reached into a paper bag and pulled out a bagel. “Want one? Caleb got bagels. He delivered them while you were in the shower.”
Caleb Black, Vivienne’s fiancé, not Tyler. She felt a stab of disappointment.
She was about to say “no thank you,” but instead she nodded. Food was fuel, she told herself, and she needed fuel to do her job. “Maybe just a half. Thank you.”
She managed to eat half a bagel with some strawberry cream cheese by the time Vivienne had swallowed the last of hers.
“All right,” Vivienne said, putting down her phone. “Got the all-clear. We’re safe to take the back exit and head to the office.”
Thrilled to the core, Penny clipped a leash on Scrappy and the two dogs followed them out of the hotel room. After a quick stop at the dog run, they arrived at the parking lot, where they found Tyler waiting.
Penny’s pulse ticked up a notch, but at the same time the tension in her stomach dissipated a fraction. She recalled the warmth of his touch as she’d sat in the patrol car, wrists still smarting where Randall’s duct tape had imprisoned her, the kiss on her knuckles... Tyler had been so kind, his blue eyes brimming with tenderness. Or perhaps it was just professional concern.
She offered a smile, but Tyler seemed nervous, detached. I’m just a job, she reminded herself, and Tyler was her brother’s good friend, to boot. He was her cop babysitter, not anything more. The thought left a cold spot in the pit of her stomach. Their evening together with Rain had clearly not meant the same to him as it had to her. Vivienne drove her to the station with Tyler following in his vehicle.
When they arrived, she made a beeline for the kitchen, relived to find it empty as she set about making the coffee. Scrappy stayed close throughout the morning. Bradley and Tyler were on their phones, similar frowns etched on their faces. She knew they were chasing down leads at the local clinics and hospitals. The boat had been found within five minutes of her rescue. Randall had climbed into the back of a tarp-covered truck and escaped completely unnoticed, even by the driver, until he leaped out at an intersection and bolted.
She pictured Randall running at her with his knife raised over his head and her hands shook as she poured a glass of water in the kitchen. She was surprised to see Tyler’s mother and Rain walk past toward the conference room. She put down her water and hurried to see them.
Francine beamed a smile. “Well, hello, Penny. Look, Rain. It’s Miss Penny.”
Rain waved a chubby hand. Penny sank to one knee and greeted her. “What are you two doing here?”
“Tyler said Dr. Gina was bringing Brooke and her puppies for a visit and who could resist a chance to see them?” Francine said.
Gina, the department veterinarian, had been taking care of Brooke and her puppies at the training center until the ownership issue was decided. Since the German-shepherd mother and pups had been found at the construction site, the whole unit had taken an interest in the canine family. Unfortunately, so had a man named Joel Carey, who insisted the dogs were his and intended to produce proof to that effect.
Penny had seen Joel at the station, loudly and brashly demanding his dogs be returned. She’d developed an instant dislike for the guy. Part of her hoped Joel wouldn’t be able to prove the valuable dogs were his.
Penny made to follow Rain and Francine to the conference room, but Rain stopped her, arms raised, a bag of goldfish crackers in one hand.
Francine laughed. “I think she wants a lift. Better your back than mine.”
Penny hoisted Rain, who immediately twined her fingers in Penny’s hair. The heft of the child in her arms felt so sweet that Penny gave her a squeeze. Rain responded by resting her cheek against Penny’s shoulder. It awakened in Penny a deep satisfaction, which startled her. She had never allowed herself to really contemplate mothering before. The subject of lasting relationships and children inevitably raised feelings of sadness, disappointment and neglect. Penny had decided early on that she would not risk imposing those feelings on a child. There might be something deep down in her DNA, a strand of genetic selfishness, that would reveal itself if Penny had children, as it had in her own mother.
Perhaps that was why she always broke things off before they could get serious. The thought was too exhausting to entertain at that moment. She snuggled Rain closer. It was okay to dote on the little girl because there was no developing relationship with her father. The notion gave her an odd prick of both regret and relief.
As they walked along, Scrappy fell in behind. A low chuckle made them all turn. Tyler was walking a few paces after them, sporting a wide grin. The smile lifted the corners of his vibrant blue eyes and her heart did an unexpected dance.
“Scrappy’s catching those fishy crackers in midair,” Tyler said. “Best game ever.”
Penny realized that Rain had been sprinkling a trail of crackers behind them for Scrappy to snarf down. She and Francine laughed, too.
“No wonder Scrappy loves Rain so much,” Francine said. “She’s like a vending machine for canines. I’m just going to pop into the ladies’ room for a minute. I’ll find you in a bit.”
When she left, Tyler shot Penny an uncertain look. “Do you want me to take her? She can get heavy after a while.”
“I’m happy to carry her.” Penny blushed. Was he uncomfortable with her caring for Rain? Doubts assailed her. He knew how her mother had treated her. Maybe he thought she’d be like that with Rain. Maybe...
“Great,” Tyler said, and his expression grew warm and relaxed.
She let loose a sigh. “I like hanging out with Rain. It takes my mind off things, and I think we’re buddies now.”
“Buddies for sure. I couldn’t pick a better one for her.” She searched his face for any clue that he was insincere, but she did not find any.
He moved nearer and pressed a kiss to Rain’s head, which brought his mouth close to Penny’s. She imagined for a moment that he lingered there, his lips so near hers.
Snap out of fantasyland. She soldiered on down the hallway, heart beating hard against her ribs.
They strolled into the conference room. Brooke and her puppies were enjoying pets and coos from the gathered officers. Scrappy sprinted to the nearest puppy, head down, bottom up, and began a playful tussle. Rain asked to be put down and was soon swarmed by two big-eared pups. Their button noses twitched in excitement and Rain’s hearty giggle made Penny chuckle, too.
She and Tyler watched the canine chaos.
“I’m glad I got to see Rain today.” Tyler sighed. “I’m away too much.”
Penny had heard from Vivienne that Tyler had spent almost all of Sunday, his day off, at the station trying to track Randall Gage.
“I’m... I mean, well, I was going to ask you if you’d made any progress, but I know you’d tell me if you could.”
He grimaced. “Matter of time. Randall must have gotten help at a clinic somewhere. There was a fair amount of blood in the back of the truck he hitched a ride in. He was bleeding too heavily to patch himself up. I have a strong hunch, but the doctor I need to talk to had a family emergency. Waiting for a call back. I...”
He stopped at a wail from Rain. One of the puppies had gotten overenthusiastic and nipped her finger
with needle-sharp teeth.
Penny immediately dropped to her knees. She took Rain’s fingers in her palm and gently rubbed them. “There, see? I rubbed the ouchie away.”
After a minute, Rain nodded and let Penny dab her tears with a tissue before she wriggled loose to resume her play with the puppies. Tyler extended a hand and helped up Penny. When she stepped on a dog toy and wobbled, he brought her steady against him with an arm around her waist.
“Where did you learn how to do that?” he said.
Her breath caught at the feel of his arm encircling her. “Do what?”
“That ouchie trick with Rain.”
Penny stopped dead. Her heart squeezed as she struggled to reply. “My mother used to do that. I hadn’t remembered until just this moment.”
His face softened. “That’s a nice memory.”
“It is, isn’t it?” The lump in her throat refused to budge. “I guess that means...”
“That she loved you.”
Those three words hovered there.
She loved you.
And Randall’s words chased behind them. Your parents were terrible. They didn’t care about you. Left you and your brother in dirty clothes, without regular meals, and they forgot about you at day care. Who forgets about their own child?
She bit her lip and his hold fell away, except for his hand on her wrist. “Randall said they were bad parents, and he was right.”
His tone was feather-soft when he spoke. “But they weren’t bad parents because you were a bad child. I have thought about this topic a lot, you know, since Diane walked away from us. Someday Rain will come to me and ask why her mommy left. I will tell her that Diane didn’t leave because there was something bad about Rain.”
He caught her gaze, an earnestness on his face that made her reel.
Long-ago hurts flickered through her mind like an old-time slide show. Her parents had neglected her, forgotten her, left her craving love and acceptance, and she’d been worried that she was unlovable.
But here was this sweet and unexpected memory, her mother’s tender touch, her desire to comfort. So what was the truth? The words echoed the question she’d asked God so many times.
Did they really love me?
She realized Tyler was watching her, one hand come to settle lightly on her shoulder. She blinked back into the present.
He leaned close, his mouth near her ear. “You are lovable and loved because God says so. I tell Rain that every day and I think maybe you need to hear it, too.” His fingers caressed her shoulder as his words warmed her heart.
How had he known that it was what she most deeply desired to hear? What she prayed about in the long nights when sleep would not come? The wonder of it traced a warm path through her veins. She blinked against sudden tears.
You are lovable and loved because God says so.
Bradley strode in, face steely, and Tyler pulled away. Bradley jerked his chin at Tyler and they moved to a corner, talking urgently.
Penny forced herself to keep her attention on Rain. Whatever they were discussing was only going to cause her more tension. She retrieved a rubber ball from the corner and rolled it back into the wriggling pile of doggies. In truth, she wanted nothing more than to think about what Tyler had said, to turn it over and over as if she was holding a translucent gem up to the sunlight and watch it tease apart the glorious rainbow of colors.
Tyler returned to her, jaw tight. “I’ve got to go. Can you make sure Rain gets back with my mom?”
“Of course.” She clasped his arm as he turned to leave. “Is it about Randall?”
He covered her fingers with his just for a moment. “Yes, it’s the lead I was waiting for. I’ll keep you posted.”
She didn’t say all of the things that throbbed in her heart just then. I’m afraid for you and my brother. Randall is a monster. Be safe. Instead she nodded and moved closer to Rain. She couldn’t do a thing to stop Randall herself, but she could take care of Tyler’s little girl and say some silent prayers that this time, Randall would be stopped once and for all.
* * *
Tyler fought to keep his excitement in check as they hurried to their cars with the dogs.
“Doctor at a clinic right here in Bay Ridge finally got back to us,” Bradley said. “She treated a guy matching Randall’s description on Saturday night. Stitched up the wound on his side and provided antibiotics. He said his name was Aaron Fisher, but he was acting squirrelly so she covertly took a picture.”
Bradley held up his phone so Tyler could see. The picture was blurry and dark, but it was clearly Randall Gage.
“Yes,” Tyler said, adrenaline surging. “Finally.”
Bradley continued. “He gave the doc an address in Bay Ridge that doesn’t exist, but she remembered when she was locking up she heard him telling a taxi to take him to a location in Sunset Park.”
It was the break they had been waiting for.
Tyler and Dusty followed Bradley’s vehicle to a quiet street on the outskirts of the neighborhood. They stopped at the address the doctor had overheard, where a large four-story apartment building sat on the corner of an intersection. They found the building manager to be a young woman with a smile full of crooked teeth and a bright blue streak in her blond hair.
She considered their question. “Aaron Fisher? Yeah, he’s lived here a while. I haven’t seen him for a couple of days, but that’s not unusual. He kept to himself. Not particularly outgoing.”
“Do you have a phone number for him?”
She hesitated. “Is he in some kind of trouble?”
“Would you please call it, ma’am?” Tyler asked. “Right now.”
A gleam of worry came into her eyes but she dutifully dialed the number. “No answer.”
“Ma’am,” Bradley said, “we are going to need you to open the door for us, if he doesn’t answer our knock.”
“I don’t think I should do that. Privacy is—”
Bradley cut her off. “We have reason to believe he’s murdered two people, maybe more. We can get a search warrant if we need to, but time is critical.”
She blanched, swallowed and reached for a key. “I’ll open it.” They followed her to the last unit at the end of a dark hallway.
Tyler directed the woman to step few feet away from the door. He put Dusty into a sit next to her and pounded on the door. “Randall Gage? Police. Open up.”
Silence.
He rapped harder.
“Open up right now or I’m sending the dog in,” Bradley shouted.
Nothing.
He gestured for the women to unlock the door and then guided her out of the way. Bradley and Tyler drew their weapons. King was electric with excitement, quivering from ears to tail.
Tyler ticked off a count of three on his fingers and then shoved the door open with his boot. At Bradley’s command, King barreled inside, tearing around the small studio apartment like a heat-seeking missile. Tyler and Bradley were right behind him. After a few moments, he sat dejectedly, tongue lolling. Tyler whistled to Dusty, who confirmed their suspicions that Randall was not there.
Nonetheless, Tyler and Bradley checked the small closet, the bathroom and under the bed until they were satisfied their quarry was not hiding.
“Clear,” Tyler called to Bradley. Biting back his disappointment, he holstered his weapon and began to scan the littered kitchen counter. Boxes of empty takeout, soda cans and old newspapers covered the aged tile. An open pantry door displayed shelves empty except for a box of sugary cereal and some canned chicken soup. A kitchen drawer was partially open—there was a tattered folder with photos spilling out. Tyler pulled a pen from his pocket and eased open the drawer.
His insides jolted. Stomach knotted, he pulled on a rubber glove and laid the folder on the table, flipping it open. “Bradley, come look at this.”
; Bradley joined him in an instant. They stood there for a moment in silence, perusing the dozens of newspaper clippings, yellowed with age.
Killer Clown Slays Two
Killer Leaves Little Girl Alive at Murder Scene
Slaying Investigation Goes Cold
“He must have clipped every mention he could find. Sick.” Bradley’s fists clenched as he studied the photos. Tyler counted fifteen, all pictures of Penny. Some had been cut from newspapers. One had been printed from the internet, an image of her sitting in attendance amid dozens of cops at the opening of the K-9 command unit. She was smiling, clapping.
Bradley’s face went scarlet. “He’s been stalking her.”
There were other photocopied photos from a few news articles—one had been written just after Lucy Emery’s parents had been killed, on the anniversary of the McGregor murders. The offset quote was Penny’s.
Randall Gage is a monster and he needs to be behind bars.
One article had been stuck on the door with tacks. The paper was crisscrossed by angry black marks, slashes of permanent marker that had defaced Penny’s image in the accompanying photo and left black streaks on the door, where his anger had overflowed. In the middle of it all, he’d plunged a knife so deep through her image that it was halfway into the wood.
Tyler felt as though his body was boiling from the inside out. Randall had taken so much from Penny and Bradley, but he would not be content with that. He wanted it all, down to her very last breath. The knife proclaimed that loud and strong.
“We’ll get a team in here,” Tyler said. “I’ll take Dusty around the vicinity and see if she can get any traces.”
But they both knew Randall had abandoned the apartment and would not be coming back. Since there was no sign of blood or bandages, he’d obviously come here, taken what he needed and cleared out after he’d gotten patched up at the doctor’s office. His actions were getting bolder because he knew the cops were close and it was a matter of time before he was captured or killed.
